Whoever thought????

How could moving from 1 little travel trailer to 1 little 5th wheel be so stressful & difficult?  We made it to Dillon last Wednesday night (just as James was getting off work), and despite Sarah's working, we were able to meet up with her at an Italian Restaurant in Keystone and the 4 of us enjoyed a wonderful meal.  Thursday morning dawned with James & Sarah already back at work, but James & his trainee (Buddy) were able to join us for breakfast after a romp with the dogs...

James & Sarah are currently dog sitting Juno & Scout.

Bill & I then headed to Wheat Ridge, where a few things had to be completed on the new truck & RV before we could move and be headed home by 5PM ...HA!!!

In addition to the hitch (they initially put in a 16K instead of a 20K)....

AND installation of the Trailaire hitch...

(an air cushion platform that attaches to the trailer...a recommendation of Bill's friend Bradford), we had to get the actual MOVE completed. 

The new equipment install was not finished by Thursday's end, so the RV dealer put us, and the girls up, at a local  motel (it was very nice).  Bright and early Friday AM we were at the gate ready to go......When we first began I would carry something over & neatly put it away.  Then around 4:30 PM an employee appraoched us to say "we have to lock the gate at 6PM", and that we could not "boondock" overnight.  At that point, we just started throwing things in every nook & cranny.  At 7:40 PM we were about 20  minutes away from being done when our saleslady (who had held over for us) came out and said she had to close up.

With 20 minutes left, we had to exit and find a Walmart to overnight at.  At the 1st Walmart there were 3 other RV's already on site.  So, we thought we could stay there...BUT our practice is to personally make contact with THAT stores manager, and when we did, we were told it was against City Ordinance.

So we drove on to the next closest store where we had approval set up ahead of time.  We were the only RV there, until, in the middle of the  night, I was awakened by a loud diesel

engine, and upon peeking out, observed an antique "hippie bus" with a sketchy driver.  This bus had previously been seenby us at the other Walmart.  I figured the cops had shagged them out, but, when we drove back past the 1st Walmart the next morning  we found 5 RV's still there, who appeared to have overnighted.  Why the hippie bus had moved and the 5 other "nice"  RV's had not, I can only speculate.

Now it is Saturday, and we arrived at the gate @ 7:30 AM, completed the last and headed "home", hot, tired and in need of a hot shower.

It is now Wednesday, and after 3 additional days of pulling it together, organizing and making the best use of space, I am starting to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

OH, and the word on the street is..."you are moving to Ponderosa Campground on Friday" :-)

Funny how much simpler life has become...NO I AM NOT JOKING, it is all relative...when such changes can make a person so happy: 

1)  I can wash my face without having to wipe up the entire bathroom floor

2) I don't bump the shower control knob every time I raise my arms up (causing the water to go scalding hot or freezing cold)

3) A "real" toilet

4)  The bed can be made without crawling on top of it

5)  Real drawers for clothes

AHHHHHH the simple pleasures of life!

Speaking of...being from Chicago, we had just about givne up on pizza...most of what they call pizza elsewhere in the country is inedile.  Luckily, a ranger  referred us to a new place in Montrose (where we now go every Monday night for my Weight Watchers meeting) called "Colorado Bobs".  One bite and we looked at each other and said "Italy"!  We will be hitting it every Monday night from now untill Labor Day.

Frank & Marie (volunteers at Cimarron) will be joining us, as Cimarron is halfway between us and Montrose.

Yes, I was inspired by Sara Reif and rejoined Weight Watchers (best success I have ever had). I had a very encouraging start in week #1 with 3.2 LBS lost.

140 here I come!!!

... to make it even easier and better, Kay 

(another volunteer at Soap Creek Campground), who will soon be our next door neighbor, stopped by to invite me to join her several days per week at Gunnison's Rec Center for fitness classes and swimming.

And our Father's Day adventure turns into a shout out to our friends Tom & Linda Alford:

Some great kayaking out here guys!

NEXT TIME ( hopefully) coming to you from Ponderodsa Campground, where we will REALLY be off the grid...25 miles up in the mountains, west of here!

Come visit, we will have a resident bear, and at least 1 resident Mountain Lion!

     

BTW...we do have a direct mailing addy when we are on location...

Yes, I know, using the South Dakota address is a hassle & it takes forever for stuff to get to us, so keep in mind that by using our direct "location" address you can,still reach us fairly quickly.  So, from now until Labor Day use:  Bill/Jan Suttie, 24830 U.S. Hwy 50, HS1, Gunnison, CO 81230.

And what a week it was, again!  New truck last week, new (well, new to us) 5th wheel this week.  For several months I have been searching the internet (of course when I could get on) and had identified several units that looked promising.  So, we went back to Grand Junction to look at a 2013 Sydney Outback.  Small dealer, nice guy, good unit, except for the step-up in the bedroom which would have caused one of us to stoop way over getting in  & out of bed or getting in the closet.  So we left, leaving that on the back burner and headed to Wheat Ridge ( a north suburb of Denver).  We looked at a 2013 unit that we liked OK & then I asked to see a 2008 Forest River Cedar Creek, which I had also seen online.  I was not hopeful, as most used units I have seen were unappealing to me on several levels.  But look we did, and the purchase quickly followed.  As it turns out, we had been planning to walk away and think about it, as we do most major purchases, but it was a good thing we reeled it in right away, rather than "think about it", because, as we were telling Peggy (our salesperson) to put a "SOLD" sign on the unit, another couple was looking at it, and had every intention of grabbing it up.

Reasons:

1)  It looks brand new inside!
2) Nice layout
3) at 37 feet it isn't so long that we would be kept out of some places, yet it is large enough, with 4 bumpouts, to give us alot more room.
4)  Price

We had prayed for discernment that morning, as we always do, and the Lord came through for us again.  He is ever faithful!

Wheat Ridge, CO is close to Loveland, CO where our friends Ed & Sara Reif now live (friends from Alpine Chapel).

They were kind enough to meet us halfway for dinner, bringing their youngest son Jordan.  We had a wonderful reunion.  I found myself so inspired by how great Sara looked, that I signed up for a Weight Watchers in Montrose, CO beginning tommorrow.  Yes, it is an hour away, but I figure it is only once a week, and it will be worth it!

After dinner we headed off to Dillon to spend the night at James & Sarah's place.  On our previous visit to see them a month ago, we had met Steve & Audrey, his Police Chief and wife, and had a wonderful dinner with them.  As we were heading towards Dillon, Steve called to ask if we could stop by for a glass of wine, when we arrived in town.  Even though the 9:45 pm arrival time was late, it did not deter us, and we had a great 2 hour visit.  They seem to be the kind of people we could have a lasting friendship with.  James was working a 7p to 7a shift, but Sarah was off work at 10pm and expecting us....when we were not there by 10:15, I got a text from her, wondering if we had changed out minds.  I felt bad about not keeping her filled in on our plans, but it was kind of funny to be checking in with the kids, telling them where we were and that we would be "home" soon.  What goes around, comes around:-)

Sarah made us comfy, as we had another good nights sleep there, catching James for breakfast when he got off duty.  He was a real sport, after a 12 hour shift, on his 1st night back.  Not sure I clould have done it.  On the other side of that now, I quickly recognized him nearly falling asleep halfway through the meal, so we finished up and scooted out of there...bidding farewell.

We then headed west on 70, thru the mountains to Vail, to make my doctors appointment at the world famous Steadman Clinic.  My 1st time in Vail, and I was struck by a couple of things:
1) armies of landscapers, all over the downtown area, weeding, planting, pruning etc.  Leaving the downtown area spotlessly clean and with a profusion of colorful flowers everywhere.

2) I found the Village unbelievably congested, with condos en mass.

My visit to the Steadman Clinic was very interesting, to say the least.  The most common question I was asked was "which doctor are you seeing?"  And when I answered "Dr. Steadman", I was often met with an air if incredulity, followed by "Really?" Apparently not everyone gets in to see Dr. Steadman.  Each step along the way the assistant(s) were very thorough, and at no point did I feel rushed.  RESOLUTION OF THE LEFT KNEE PROBLEM:  Brace it.  If in 30 days, I feel as though I have been helped, Dr. Steadman will perform an arthroscopy surgery.  If the brace doesn't help, he I will be looking at a full new knee.

The busyiness will continue this week, as Bill will see his surgeon in Salida regarding a post-surg check-up.  We plan to, hopefully, go to Wheat Ridge on Wednesday, to exchange out travel trailer for the new 5th wheel.  This kind of move from one house to another is a bit different than most of yáll are used to.  We simply pull the RV's next to each other, plank across door to door, and empty one to fill another.  We will have a great deal more space, which the girls are very excited about.  Bill says it well when he looks around our 30 footer and says "I'm gonna miss this little place, good memories".

We are now prepping our current home for trade in, and we look forward to the change.

Wednesday can't come quickly enough!!!

Catching up (before total exhaustion kicks in...)

In Old Business:  The GMC being promoted to us was red (love red), BUT, it had a black interior, which I could have dealt with.....But then the DEAL BREAKER....it was BLACK CLOTH!  OUT OF THE RUNNING!!!!

Rory arrived in Durango on Friday, May 31st.  The drive there was gut wrenching, as I was on the downhill side of some VERY precipitious edges,

no barriers, except for some sheer rock walls
within 8 inches of my window! Thought I was going to be sick before we got there.  BUT, it was as beautiful as it was frightening.

LOVED the town of Ouray!  In the pix, Ouray looks like a toy town.
And the ice cream vendor was quite generous with his portions....I was actually unable to complete mine, which, if you know me & ice cream, is an unheard of event!

The ice cream stop occurred on our return to Durango on Saturday, June 1st.  We were scheduled for the 8AM train ride on the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway.  Since the drive from Curecanti to Durango is 4.5 hours we had made reservations to stay overnight at a  wonderful little B & B called "The Gable House"  

.  After settling in there we hit the town, finding a fairly good Mexican restaurant

and catching a carriage ride at the end of the evening.

We went to bed tired, but well pleased with the day!


After breakfasting with the proprieter Heather, we headed off to catch the train.  Bill, of course, had been caught up in converstion with Heather and despite our mad dash through town, we arrived at the depot just in time to see our train chug chug out of the station.  Fortunately, despite the popularity of this attraction, there were exactly 3 seats left in the Presidential Car on the 8:15 am, and we were provided seats thereon.

Our car hostess was "Ellie" & she did a great job!

Ellie assigned me to "bait" the squirrels, so that when the train stopped to provide our "shadow"  

a bad of donuts & coffee, the bait would cause the squirrels to leave our "shadow's" bag alone.

 Upon arriving in Silverton

Ellie advised us that "Grumpy's" had a live ragtime piano player

We headed into the old west town.  I was particularly amazed at the wide streets

Grumpy's turned out to be a great experience...original decor, great food, and, as you can see, Bill got the chance to sing along with the piano player.

Met some great people on the train...so much fun, beauty in God's creation and a bit of shopping..

all packed into the day and we arrived home late again and crashed!

The next morning we rose early and hit the road again on a mission to have lunch in Dillon with James & Sarah....along the way I realized this was the earliest we had been up and driving into/through Gunnison, past the little foal we had been trying to obtain pix of for 2 weeks, and maybe our last chance to see her up & around while she was still somewhat small.  Luck was with us, as the foal was out and about hanging around with several other horses.

As I trained my lense on the beautiful animals, and began snapping, thru my view finder, suddenly something seemed different?  I quickly noted that not ALL of the horses were MARES!  Looks like our little foal will have a sibling shortly.  (no pix to follow on this:-)

Another fascinating bit of observed nature this trip:  I 

saw a cow chasing a Raven away.  This unusual motion then drew my attention to a small, black, curled up mass on the ground.  It was a calf, just dropped by it's Momma.  

I don't want to know what the Raven was noshing on!  Nature, so beautiful & so gross, all at the same time.  God is a fascinating guy!

Nice lunch with James & Sarah, even though he was on duty and had to leave early for court (which was called off later, but by this time we were heading out of town).  Familiar times these!  When we took Sarah home, she found herself locked out....no problem:

Cops & crooks:  One degree of seperation:-)  Sarah got in....just sayin.

While all this was going on we were continually taking advantage of our intermitent phone signal to negotiate for a new truck.  So, after leaving James & Sarah,'we stopped in Grand Junction to have our truck appraised.  Before you know it we were in agreement on all the details and we find ourselves the proud owners of a new 2013 Chevy 3500 diesel dually.  Not necessarily my 1st color choice, but quite acceptable anyway.

Now to find the 5th wheel to go with it.

Wednesdayn AM found Bill & I on our way to Salida, CO for his surgery (debriedment of his bullethole).  This gave Rory a chance to slow down & chill for the day.

We were home by 3 pm with Bill in good spirits.

Our reservations for the Morrow Point Boat Tour were for  10 am Thursday and we were up early.  BUT, history was poised to repeat itself:  I lost track of time and we rushed  off 1/2 hour late...with 232 steps and a 1 mile hike down the canyon we arrived at the dock as the boat was pulling away.  We then rescheduled for the 12:30 pm tour and drove off to visit Ponderosa CG, where Bill & I will relocate to when camp hosts are "hired" to take our place at Stevens Creek.

We enjoyed Ponderosa and headed back to catch our 12:30 boat.  But this time we evaluated the clock VS time to make the trek and turned the truck around, rescheduling the boat ride for Friday at 10:00.  We will leave the house at 8 am!

We' were all getting worn out, so spent the afternoon resting after having BLT's and making ready to maximize our last full day:  10 am=Morrow Point Boat Tour

Noon=  Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

6 pm =  Jan & Bill's anniversary dinner in Durango

9 pm= drop Rory off ayt hotel and bid her adieau

Midnight= home

On this day in 1991 I married my BEST FRIEND!

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